Initial Windows 7 Reaction

Original Post at my personal blog, http://www.saithetechguy.com/

The release candidate for Windows 7 was leaked earlier this week, so I thought I would see how it was performing. Having been a long time Linux user, and knowing the performance issues with Vista, I wasn't expecting much.

After a surprisingly quick install, I powered up my laptop assuming I'd have to go and download all of the drivers for my hardware; mainly video, sound, and network card. Again, I was surprised when my Internet was actually working, and Windows 7 had set the default resolution to my monitors 1080p standard. So right from the get go Windows 7 had a quick install, no driver installs needed, and performance was on par with my Ubuntu 8.10 install in terms of speed. I decided to check out a few of the features unique to Windows 7 and see how the file-system stability was. 

Having a clean install, I decided to transfer over 100GB of data straight to the Windows 7 install drive, and received a few more surprises. First thing I noticed was the network file transfer speed was two times faster than in Ubuntu, with Windows 7 transferring 12MB/s and Ubuntu transferring 6.5MB/s. After the 100GB of data were transferred, I moved files around to different folders, installed applications, edited some files, played some games, and other usual actions to attempt and fragment the drive. When I analyzed the disk, I was shocked to see 1% fragmentation especially since Ubuntu with the same data had 2% fragmentation.

So aside from all of the great performance, Windows 7 also has some interesting features and effects. The desktop has some great themes to choose from, my favorite being Characters. This changes the wallpapers that will be cycled through, the system sounds, and the color of the taskbar and window boarders. The wallpaper changing by default every 30 minutes is fun, and the wallpapers in the Characters theme are really fantastic and stylish. Windows 7 also has an interesting feature called Aero Peek on-top of a redesigned taskbar which creates a very intuitive Desktop Manager.



I'm a huge fan of Compiz Fusion like any Linux user, and Aero Peek in combination with the redesigned taskbar really seem to work like a giant mix of Compiz Fusion features. Each application has it's own icon on the taskbar, and every window or tab unique to that application is manageable by hovering over the icon and checking out the previews. Here's where it gets interesting, because if you're like me and have multiple browser instances open with tabs in each, you can look through all of them easily with Aero Peek. Windows 7 also comes with some decently useful window docking points, for easy full-screen or half screen sizing. The half screen docking is useful when comparing two websites, or using one side for a research website and another for a word processor.

I am definitely impressed by how Windows 7 is performing, especially coming from Ubuntu. It's good to know that Microsoft will be giving away Windows 7 for free as an update to Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate users, as Windows 7 is essentially what Windows Vista should have been. My only gripe is the lack of multiple desktops, but when you get the hang of Aero Peek, every application seems to be it's own desktop which really improves your workflow.

Original Post at my personal blog, http://www.saithetechguy.com/

The release candidate for Windows 7 was leaked earlier this week, so I thought I would see how it was performing. Having been a long time Linux user, and knowing the performance issues with Vista, I wasn't expecting much.

After a surprisingly quick install, I powered up my laptop assuming I'd have to go and download all of the drivers for my hardware; mainly video, sound, and network card. Again, I was surprised when my Internet was actually working, and Windows 7 had set the default resolution to my monitors 1080p standard. So right from the get go Windows 7 had a quick install, no driver installs needed, and performance was on par with my Ubuntu 8.10 install in terms of speed. I decided to check out a few of the features unique to Windows 7 and see how the file-system stability was. 

Having a clean install, I decided to transfer over 100GB of data straight to the Windows 7 install drive, and received a few more surprises. First thing I noticed was the network file transfer speed was two times faster than in Ubuntu, with Windows 7 transferring 12MB/s and Ubuntu transferring 6.5MB/s. After the 100GB of data were transferred, I moved files around to different folders, installed applications, edited some files, played some games, and other usual actions to attempt and fragment the drive. When I analyzed the disk, I was shocked to see 1% fragmentation especially since Ubuntu with the same data had 2% fragmentation.

So aside from all of the great performance, Windows 7 also has some interesting features and effects. The desktop has some great themes to choose from, my favorite being Characters. This changes the wallpapers that will be cycled through, the system sounds, and the color of the taskbar and window boarders. The wallpaper changing by default every 30 minutes is fun, and the wallpapers in the Characters theme are really fantastic and stylish. Windows 7 also has an interesting feature called Aero Peek on-top of a redesigned taskbar which creates a very intuitive Desktop Manager.



I'm a huge fan of Compiz Fusion like any Linux user, and Aero Peek in combination with the redesigned taskbar really seem to work like a giant mix of Compiz Fusion features. Each application has it's own icon on the taskbar, and every window or tab unique to that application is manageable by hovering over the icon and checking out the previews. Here's where it gets interesting, because if you're like me and have multiple browser instances open with tabs in each, you can look through all of them easily with Aero Peek. Windows 7 also comes with some decently useful window docking points, for easy full-screen or half screen sizing. The half screen docking is useful when comparing two websites, or using one side for a research website and another for a word processor.

I am definitely impressed by how Windows 7 is performing, especially coming from Ubuntu. It's good to know that Microsoft will be giving away Windows 7 for free as an update to Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate users, as Windows 7 is essentially what Windows Vista should have been. My only gripe is the lack of multiple desktops, but when you get the hang of Aero Peek, every application seems to be it's own desktop which really improves your workflow.

That wallpaper is awesome :D

Sounds cool, I'm just worried that if I do make the switch a number of hardwares will stop working, like my Wacom tablet, or my Numark Omni Control DJ tool, stuff like that that requires particular drivers as well as software like Traktor.

I was thinking about installing Ubuntu on my old laptop that runs XP, would you say it would be worth it? I'm only looking to browse the web, write and watch video. Might I have issues with my wifi adaptor driver?

"What's the release candidate like compared to the beta that's been out for a while now? I'm typing to you from the Win7 beta as we speak, I've really enjoyed using it overall. I've had a few issues with some older games that run on Vista but have problems on 7, but other than that I think it's a nice OS.Oh I guess if you came from linux you might not know the differences between the beta and the release candidate."

"Sounds cool, I'm just worried that if I do make the switch a number of hardwares will stop working, like my Wacom tablet, or my Numark Omni Control DJ tool, stuff like that that requires particular drivers as well as software like Traktor.

I was thinking about installing Ubuntu on my old laptop that runs XP, would you say it would be worth it? I'm only looking to browse the web, write and watch video. Might I have issues with my wifi adaptor driver?"

It sounds cool, I have learned that I will wait a year before I upgrade my OS after its release and also get my computer memory upgraded, Is it a system hog or is it the same as vista? 

"It sounds cool, I have learned that I will wait a year before I upgrade my OS after its release and also get my computer memory upgraded, Is it a system hog or is it the same as vista?  "

Nice write up! I've been using Windows 7 since Beta 1 and have been very pleased with its performance and new features; the new taskbar is especially great to use. I look forward to getting home from work to try out the new RC and see what fixes and enhancements have been made on my own machine. There's only so much you can read about.

Saieno said:

"I am definitely impressed by how Windows 7 is performing, especially coming from Ubuntu. It's good to know that Microsoft will be giving away Windows 7 for free as an update to Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate users, as Windows 7 is essentially what Windows Vista should have been. My only gripe is the lack of multiple desktops, but when you get the hang of Aero Peek, every application seems to be it's own desktop which really improves your workflow."

"Nice write up! I've been using Windows 7 since Beta 1 and have been very pleased with its performance and new features; the new taskbar is especially great to use. I look forward to getting home from work to try out the new RC and see what fixes and enhancements have been made on my own machine. There's only so much you can read about.

Saieno said:

"I am definitely impressed by how Windows 7 is performing, especially coming from Ubuntu. It's good to know that Microsoft will be giving away Windows 7 for free as an update to Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate users, as Windows 7 is essentially what Windows Vista should have been. My only gripe is the lack of multiple desktops, but when you get the hang of Aero Peek, every application seems to be it's own desktop which really improves your workflow."

Where did you hear about this free upgrade?"

I got a legit Windows 7 RC this morning from my work.  I like a few things about it over the Beta. 

I LOVE that Jump Lists now work with Remote Desktop Connection!!!  I constantly remote to different virtual machines or computers, depending if I'm build/writing/testing software or just doing IT work on one of our servers.  This is my favorite part, weirdly enough :p 

The Windows Key + E now brings up the "Computer" (My Computer), like all older versions of Windows, instead of the new "Libraries".  Good call MS! 

They fixed-up the look and feel of the Classic Control Panel, which was kinda weird looking in the Beta (even though using Search is faster to navigate regardless)... they also added Jump Lists to it as well, including Recent Control Panel Items! 

I guess I'll find more over the coming days.  In general it just "feels" better to me than the Beta did.

"Saieno said:

It's good to know that Microsoft will be giving away Windows 7 for free as an update to Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate users, as Windows 7 is essentially what Windows Vista should have been

A quick Google search revealed that this isn't confirmed, and that it will apparently only apply to "PCs bought with a Windows Vista license on or after July 1, 2009 to January 1, 2010". Regardless, although I have no problems with Vista, it's good to know that Windows 7 is looking solid."

"I got a legit Windows 7 RC this morning from my work."

Where exactly did you download 7 from, anyway? 

Ah ok, yeah Microsoft always has free upgrades avaiable for OEM partners to give to customers if they purchase a new computer within a certain time of a new OS release. Thought that might be the case you were referring to, but wasn't sure.

I think many are getting Windows 7 through MSDN or partner licenses, or as technical beta testers. If I remember correctly, Microsoft will also have a public release of Windows 7 RC like they did with Beta 1.